Rare giant octopus spotted near far north Queensland
A mystery giant creature was sighted near Great Detached Reef in Far North Queensland.
Marine experts have now confirmed that the creature was in fact a giant octopus.
Great Barrier Reef Legacy, the Reef’s only independent research vessel, shared a photo of the giant creature to Instagram and share some interesting trivia about the species.
“This HUGE octopus was seen at the surface being circled by several large whaler sharks before it descended back into the deep,” the post wrote.
“@bungiehelicopters who took the photo was put in contact with Great Barrier Reef Legacy scientists to help confirm what they had found up near Great Detached Reef in the far north. With the help of Dr Julian Finn of Museum Victoria the animal has been tentatively identified as a Blanket Octopus or a Tremoctopus with this female estimated to be at least 1.4m long.”
“Amazingly the male of the species grows only to 2.4cm making this species the winner when it comes to size differences between sexes!”
The post by Great Barrier Reef Legacy explained that the team will be heading to the same location for the “Search for the Super Corals” expedition.
The team said that will definitely keep their eyes open for any more sightings of the huge octopus.
It just goes to show how little we really know about the Great Barrier Reef.
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